Taiwan ruling party powers ahead with opposition mired in bitter dispute

Taiwan cannot afford chaos or “experiments” when it comes to being president, the frontrunner to be the island’s next leader said on Wednesday as the opposition remained mired in a bitter dispute on mounting a joint presidential challenge.
The Jan. 13 election will shape Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s relations with Beijing at a time China has stepped up military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.
Vice President Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who China views as a separatist, leads opinion polls to be Taiwan’s next president. Talks between the two main opposition parties to team up and take him on have floundered and are in deadlock.
Lai and his running mate, Taiwan’s former U.S. envoy Hsiao Bi-khim, formally registered with the election commission to run on Tuesday, but it remains unclear what the opposition will do. The deadline to register is Friday afternoon.
Lai told reporters he and Hsiao were “confident and determined to lead Taiwan steadily in the chaotic situation”.